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    Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the "Worst" in Mystery Fiction
    Unavailable
    Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the "Worst" in Mystery Fiction
    Unavailable
    Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the "Worst" in Mystery Fiction
    Ebook340 pages5 hours

    Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the "Worst" in Mystery Fiction

    By Bill Pronzini and Ed McBain

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    "This is fabulously funny stuff." — John D. MacDonald
    "Bill Pronzini surveys the worst crime fiction — not just the average inferior product, but the junk classics, works that achieve a heroic degree of badness. No brief summary can do justice to Mr. Pronzini's researches." — The New York Times
    Welcome to the very best of the very worst in 20th-century mystery writing. Author Bill Pronzini takes a good-natured look at the genre's "alternative classics" in a retrospective of unintentionally hilarious crime fiction. Populated by the usual private eyes, arch-villains, amateur sleuths, and femmes fatales, these tales offer uniquely amusing reading that's as memorable in its own way as the works of the great mystery writers.
    In addition to their pure entertainment value, these excerpts and witty appraisals of the "worst" in mystery fiction provide a historical perspective on the development and mores of modern-day crime stories. Featured writers include not only many unsung heroes of pulp fiction but also authors who were popular in their day. Pronzini presents background on the field's subgenres and publishers as well as incisive commentary on the social attitudes reflected by the stories. Advanced and dedicated devotees will appreciate the comprehensive bibliography, which will steer them toward — or away from — these neglected gems.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDover Publications
    Release dateApr 19, 2017
    ISBN9780486821108
    Unavailable
    Gun in Cheek: An Affectionate Guide to the "Worst" in Mystery Fiction
    Author

    Bill Pronzini

    Bill Pronzini has published seventy-nine novels, thirty-eight of which feature the Nameless Detective, Americas longest-running PI series, begun in 1971. He is also the author of four nonfiction books and three hundred fifty short stories, and the editor of numerous anthologies. Among his many awards is the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, presented in 2008—a distinction he shares with his wife, crime novelist Marcia Muller, the 2005 Grand Master recipient. The couple lives in Northern California.

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    Reviews for Gun in Cheek

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    • 3/5
      Reprint of Pronzini's affectionate 1982 look at what he calls "alternate classics"--that is, books so bad they're good, is fun at first but grows a bit tedious. The lengthy repetitions of the plots are not as interesting or funny in some cases as he thinks they are. The series of quotations from various writers fares better, with some real gems of mixed metaphors and pure gibberish standing out. Pronzini isn't consistent in his critiques, either. He veers from the really really bad (Stephen Harry Keeler) to the sometimes bad (Richard Prather) to a few authors who maybe aren't so bad after all. He is also very skeptical that any author he considers to have written an "alternate classic" may have been aware of what he was doing, which perhaps speaks to a general lack of perception on Pronzini's part. The book is also quite dated. I'm happy that no one has gone back and updated lines such as "and is still writing," but Pronzini misses a few other targets he could skewer for their sometimes unbearably bad prose, including John D. MacDonald, whose blurb is on the back cover.Still, despite my criticisms, this is a worthwhile work for anyone interested in the history of the mystery genre (or spy fiction or thrillers or even gothic, none of which Pronzini can resist talking about). I see that there is even a sequel. Perhaps it is better?